I enjoy cooking and my boyfriend used to be a chef, so there is always something yummy to be had at our house. I think cooking is what made me fall for him. I went to his house one day for brunch and next thing you knew I was naked.

He does a lot of grilling and cream based pasta sauces. One of the things he does is leg of lamb on the grill with a bunch of tarragon. It is so yummy. Another specialty of his is mashed sweet potatoes which he does with cream, garlic and brown sugar. It is to die for.

I've been known to make a pretty good Borcht too, and I always have to make it in large quantities since it is so time consuming. It comes out a bit differently each time because I've never really followed one recipes, I just take what I like from various ones and make it up as I go along.

There are two super easy chicken recipes that I like to make that look like they're much fancier than they are:

First one uses chicken thighs (also cheap) with bone and skin still on. You lay them out in a pan and drizzle them with olive oil and sprinkle with salt, pepper, and rosemary. Then you take a whole head of garlic and break that up and throw it in the pan with the skin still on it. Cook uncovered until the chicken is done. Serve this with some crusty bread to smear the roasted garlic on and enjoy. Everyone I have made this for is a big fan.

Second one uses thighs or drumsticks, again with bone and skin usually. You take a big bowl and put a bunch of olive oil in. Maybe like 1/4 to 1/2 cup? I never measure. Then you add a bunch of paprika (maybe 1-2 TBs), a teaspoon or so of cinnamon, and a dash or two of cayenne. Mix this all up and taste to see if you think it needs more of any of the spices. You can add a bit of salt but the paprika gives it a salty taste anyway so go gentle with it. When you have the taste the way you want toss the chicken pieces and a whole Vidallia onion chopped up into maybe 1 inch pieces in the bowl and make sure they get well coated. Bake until cooked through. I usually serve this with rice and "Latino Blend" frozen mixed veg (black beans, corn, onion, etc.)

Katraya wrote: Another specialty of his is mashed sweet potatoes which he does with cream, garlic and brown sugar.

YES PLEASE!

The actual "recipe" as written to send to my Dad after he visited us:

Boil the potatoes until tender.Sautee garlic in olive oil until brown. Add some white wine and reduce. Add salt and pepperAdd heavy whipping cream and reduce to about half of the original volume.Add brown sugar.

Mash the cream mixture into the potatoes and enjoy!

We're lucky in that we live in a decent sized city with good markets and ethnic foods. We have several farmers market to choose from, a greek wholesaler, awesome authentic Mexican food on the corner, and a few Asian grocery stores for fresh veggies and meats/fish. There are also several festivals every summer steps from our house - Polish, Latino and Ukranian. We go there and eat and drink ourselves silly and then stumble home.

Fridmarr wrote:Alton Brown made some chili once where he used crushed tortilla chips instead of beans. I've always been curious to make it and see what it was like. Lore, get on it.

Interestingly enough...I'm not a chili nut, but once read a thread (on another gaming forum) where a few chili die-hards were claiming that "real" chili didn't use any beans at all.

Anyone else familiar with this theory?

Beans or rice are considered in some chili circles to be "filler" and to distract from the true flavor of the dish. Most of the chili cookoffs I've ever entered don't allow either in competition chili.

I use a combination of sirloin, ground beef, and andouille sausage in my chili, along with the appropriate quantities of tomatoes. If I'm going for speed I'll use 1/4 of the seasonings to start, add 1/2 (of the total quantity) about halfway through cooking, and the rest about 10 minutes before I declare it done. This is called bombing the chili and really makes the spices pop, not as much of the aromatics get lost to the air and it makes for a better flavor. At home, since I do agree that the consistency of beans distracts from the experience so I blend them into a paste in the food processor. They make a great thickener/filler and cut down on costs.

I also serve with a little grated cheddar and a dollop of sour cream to help cut the heat from the andouille and red pepper.

Katraya wrote:Tonight will make up for it though. I'm making a huge batch of homemade Mac and Cheese which I serve with stewed tomatoes. Tomorrow I'll have yummy leftovers for lunch instead!

My family likes KD better than my made-from-scratch mac and cheese with tomatoes and seasoning salt on top.

That, sirs, is a kick in the nuts.

How do you do the tomatoes with it? I've always wanted to try making Mac and Cheese from scratch and tomatoes sound awesome to go with it.

Cook macaroni, prepare cheese mixture (melt butter, stir in salt, pepper, flour until clumpy, add milk and grated cheese, stir until melted into mostly-homogeneous orange glory), put macaroni in casserole pan, pour cheese overtop, don't worry about stirring it in because it'll mix through on its own, slice tomatoes and lay them on top of macaroni, sprinkle on seasoning salt if desired, bake. Leave the lid off if you want it a little drier.

If you like the top to crisp up, the tomatoes just about rule that out. I usually like mine gooey so not an issue.

Arcand wrote:If you like the top to crisp up, the tomatoes just about rule that out. I usually like mine gooey so not an issue.

PS: Cleaning the cheese-mixture pan is a nontrivial exercise.

My boyfriend suggested I lay parchment paper in the bottom of the pan to make removal of the mac and cheese easier. I'll let you know how this works out. Generally I find if you soak the pan it isn't too hard to clean, but we want to cut it up into lots of leftover squares when we're done.

I put bread crumbs on top of mine and bake it uncovered, I like a bit of crunchiness. He actually suggested I put tomotoes in mine too (his grandmother makes it that way) but he got the "don't tell me how to make a dish from my childhood" look of death and didn't pursue it further.

Oh, and apparently deep frying leftover homemade Mac and Cheese is supposed to be amazing but I try to eat a wee bit sensibly.

Last night we had fried shrimp but usually we steam them. Some salt and a bunch of Old Bay and they're delicious and rather healthy.

Katraya wrote:Oh, and apparently deep frying leftover homemade Mac and Cheese is supposed to be amazing but I try to eat a wee bit sensibly.

The Cheesecake Factory has a fried mac and cheese appetizer or side or something that has apparently become the new "This is the most unhealthy thing you can possibly eat at a restaurant" over things like the Outback's Bloomin' Onion.I hear it's amazing though.

I don't really have a recipe = / I kind of just get inspired by various spices I see.

Basically I mix everything in a bowl before I make the patties. Worcestershire sauce is always part of the mix as ground turkey tends to be rather dry and it helps give the meat a little moisture and a nice texture. I think the last time I just used some salt, pepper, garlic powder for flavor.

Edit: I typically grill most things, but these are best cooked on the stove with a little olive oil

So you brown the sausage in a large pan. Drain the fat if you want. Then throw in all the veggies, saute with some of the sausage fat, add salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning to taste. Saute til the veggies are soft then throw in the spaghetti sauce and simmer.

Fridmarr wrote:Alton Brown made some chili once where he used crushed tortilla chips instead of beans. I've always been curious to make it and see what it was like. Lore, get on it.

Alton Brown is my hero so I will have to try this. Though I'll probably still have the beans in there. Was that on Good Eats? I'll have to find the episode.

Yeah, it was on Good Eats, I really like that show. I had that episode DVR'd but it got purged when space got low, grr. For those that are interested, he did get into the history of chili a bit, and yeah beans were kind of a later add in. Originally it needed to be kind of easy to make, and beans would complicate that. Anyhow, it wasn't the lack of beans that surprised me, but it was the using of the tortilla chips that I didn't expect. He also made his own chili powder with a recipe a bit different than mine, but it looked quite good.

I'll add one of my favorites to the list. If you like a good cut of steak paired with a rich cheese and aren't concerned about your arteries being clogged, this is quite tasty...

Olive oil2 beef tenderloin steaks -- you want them kind of small about 4in -5in in diameter and fairly thickSeason (rub) however you'd normally season your steaks, but don't marinade.4 Refrigerated buttermilk biscuits -- Pillsbury makes some that are already portioned which makes this easier1 egg

Heat oven to 400 degrees F. In a skillet heat your oil over medium and add your seasoned steaks. You just want to sear the outside, so just about 2 min per side, so it has a bit of browning. Then remove them from heat and put on a room temperature plate.

Grease a cookie sheet (spray works great). Press out 2 of the biscuits into circles big enough to hold the steak. Put a steak on each biscuit, then roll out the other 2 biscuits into circles big enough to cover the steak. Cover the steaks with the last 2 biscuits and pinch the edges closed. Beat egg yolk and a touch of water with fork and then brush over top biscuits. Bake about 15 minutes or until the biscuits look done.

In a small saucepan, mix cheese, whipping cream and Worcestershire sauce and a little pepper (no salt here!). Heat just to boiling (don't let it reach a rolling boil) then drop the heat back to low. When the cheese is melted add in mushrooms. You need to keep an eye on this gravy and stir it often. Pour it on the steaks when they come out and serve.